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Sunday, October 31, 2010
Links Bloggers Indonesia - Mungkin Anda juga berminat cari info atau tukar links dengan bloggers Indonesia di Bawah ini !
B.
Berita Artikel Terbaru
Blog Hot News Berita
D. Inside Belitung
H.
HTC | Hidden Technology Community
Hotel Penginapan Murah Indonesia
HP Handphone Nokia Sony Ericsson Samsung
L.
Lowongan Jobs Kerja
M.
Mobil Terbaru Murah
T.
Tips Cara Belajar
Blog Info Indonesia - telah terjadi Gempa bumi yang melanda Jayapura, pulau Papua.
Sampai kapan Duka masih melanda negara Indonesia.
Kekuatan gempa 4,8 Skala Richter di darat dengan pusat gempa jaraknya 86 kilometer di sebelah barat Jayapura, pulau Papua. Demikian informasi dari Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika atau BMKG wilayah V Jayapura.
Gempa Yang menimpa pulau bagian timur negara Indonesia tersebut terjadi pada hari Minggu tanggal 31 Oktober 2010 pada pukul 20.50 WIT. Pusat Gempa ada pada kedalaman 14 kilometer dan berlokasi di 2,82 Lintang Selatan - 139,99 Bujur Timur (BT).
Sumber : http://berita.liputan6.com/daerah/201010/304223/Gempa.Goyang.Jayapura
Indonesia Earthquake, Tsunami and Volcano - October Indonesian state disaster are madly in Mount erupt, earthquakes and tsunamis. Many victims of disasters in Indonesia.
Mount Merapi is located between Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces have made the population displaced and lost property, another disaster that happened in Indonesia is that in one after another earthquake with tsunami that occurred in the Mentawai of West Sumatra province. As a result of the catastrophic eruption of Mount Merapi, the Tsunami and earthquake make the people living in disaster areas lost treasure, too many who died.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
The immortal Bela Lugosi as Dracula
Tibetan Demon Mask
Years ago Chris Jaworski asked an
online discussion group to talk about horror movies and their appeal. I posted the
following:
The other day I was reading an article about
the Kielce pogrom. On July 4, 1946, some citizens of Kielce stoned, bayonetted,
and shot to death 42 Jews living in their midst. It was a scholarly article, meant
to be cool headed, and yet many sentences in it read like horror literature,
e.g.: "... they made rumour sound like truth and fanned the crowd's
emotions ... when the crowd had swelled to about one hundred, people began
gathering stones..."
And 42 Jews, who had survived
the Holocaust, were murdered. Why? Someone spread the Blood Libel.
Shirely Jackson's "The Lottery" comes to mind.
"The horror, the horror," from Joseph Conrad's Heart
of Darkness.
When I experience horror while reading
stuff like this, I think, why go to a horror movie? Why inject more of this
feeling into my life?
I've got a rarely diagnosed
illness and have been fighting for SSDI. I recently had a hearing in front of a
judge. The judge, in spite of my inches thick file of medical records, and
inches thick file of medical journal articles, and corroborating testimony from
a civil rights attorney and a nun, for heaven's sake, wrote, in his decision,
that I was "faking bad" (sic). That the condition doesn't exist, that
I have no symptoms, that we all were lying.
Needless to
say, we'll appeal, and in preparing the appeal I've been on the phone to lots
of local lawyers who have appeared before this particular judge. I've been told
by folks who interact with this guy professionally that he is an
"evil" man who enjoys denying benefits, especially to women, and,
most especially, to articulate women – and
that he has been suspended from the bench for the unfairness of his decisions,
and that he just recently returned from this suspension, and asked,
specifically, to be assigned to this particular work – hearing SSDI cases, although it is
notoriously low prestige and low pay.
In my
confrontations with this man, and with the illness in general and with the
experience of being poor and sick, I feel fear and horror all the time.
I really dislike feeling both fear and horror. I much prefer
the feelings I get from even a bad romantic comedy, and, most preferably, from
a great romantic comedy like "It Happened One Night."
I prefer this
to this.
In trying to understand why some like horror, I've thought
– who is the most likely audience for a
really scary horror movie?
Certainly other cultures have
had works of art that produce fear and horror, but often these couldn't best be
compared to American horror movies. Usually, folk tales or dramas that
incorporate fear and horror also contain humor, uplift, long, boring,
exposition that emphasize the importance of tribal values.
It seems – is this correct? – that the concentration of fear and horror in
American horror films is a diagnostic characteristic of the genre.
Who are the biggest audiences of such movies? American
teenagers, no? And American teenagers are a very protected audience. Why would a
sheltered, protected audience choose to plunge into fear and horror? Is it a
hunger for emotions that don't occur in sheltered, protected lives?
But this isn't always the case. Roman Polanski made a couple
of highly praised, scary and horrible movies. "Knife in the Water"
and "Rosemary's Baby." And he's had no shortage of real horror in his
life. He lived through WW II in Poland.
Anyway ... I
wish I could figure out how to express how my thoughts and feelings about a man
who makes a career out of destroying the lives of poor and sick people is
interacting, in my head, with thoughts of "The Blair Witch Project"
and horror in general.
I guess my illness and my
encounters with individuals like this judge has hammered home to me at every
turn, since I got sick, anyway, what I suspect people feel, and choose to feel,
while watching horror movies: that the human body is not integral, that our
convictions of our own autonomy are delusions –
no, I've never quite turned into Linda Blair as a possessed kid, but, I
can't, single handedly, hold back disease and keep my body from changing in
ways I don't like. I am constantly reminded that apparently innocent scenes and
people can, without warning, erupt into terror and threat. There is a
mindlessly destructive, death-hungry, pain-hungry urge in the human make up,
and that urge occasionally has its way, while rationality and compassion are
made impotent and thrust to the sidelines.
If you're not
a sheltered American teenager, and you feel you have quite enough fear and
horror in your life, thank you, does a movie like "The Blair Witch
Project" have something to offer? The movie advertises itself by
announcing that all the protagonists are dead, or at least missing. There's no
triumph of the human, the rational, the compassionate, over fear and horror. Fear
and horror win. Why is there an attraction to that?
Or,
is there a sense of trimuph because the viewer assumes he'll be alive when the
movie is over?
Could it serve as does the Tibetan Book
of the Dead, or even initiation rituals –
this is how bad it gets. Let go of your attachment to the goodies of
life. After you've completely let go, go back into life, acknowledging that all
you love and rely on is an illusion, or, maybe, a choice, a product of your
moment to moment choice making? And that very choice making makes you heroic
and triumphant?
Needless to say, all these questions are
inchoate...
Friday, October 29, 2010
Ironman Access Program Pulled 24 Hours After Launch Due to Athlete Outrage
0 comments Posted by ai at 4:43 PM
The Ironman Access program was going to allow participants to pay $1000 to get early access to register for Ironman events (that often sell out the day of availability at $500/pop and require on-site registration). Part of the stated purpose of this was to address the "2500-3000 Ironman slots that are not raced each year from people who register for multiple events but only race one". Personally it looked to me like seizing an opportunity to make more $$$ from an audience rumored to spend $22,000 annually on their hobby. Soon after, the Ironman Facebook page lit up with discontent and prompted Ben Fertic, President of WTC, to post a video apology that announced the Ironman Access program would be rescinded. The Ironman Facebook page continues to pile up heat faster than a Sierra Nevada forest fire with comments like:
"Although they have now back tracked, this for me was the final nail in the coffin of the sport I once loved. In my opion 'Unbranded' long distance events are the future of this sport. The M dot has become nothing more than a... Nike Swoosh or a McDonalds golden arch." - Dave Mccavoy
"WTC just committed suicide with this crap....after I'm done completing IM Texas I'm done with you suckers!!" - Ernesto Villarroel
"I know it's cliche, but it's the thought that counts, they still made Ironman Access, they still tried to rip people off. They found out it didn't work and they got rid of it. It's insulting that some of you are going back and going to do more mdot ...branded races." - Nick Jantz
There are also a lot of comments commending Mr. Fertic for having the guts to say they were wrong and acting quickly. His video says quite bluntly, "if you say we were wrong, then we were wrong".
I find the whole thing a fascinating study in how easy it is for a profit motive to create a wedge between a brand once built by athletes and now controlled by a corporation (and owned by a private equity firm) and the painful seperation that ensues. Be sure to check out that Facebook page to get a front row seat!
- SD
Friday Evening Crap...........
Not much to comment about around here except all the political stuff with the midterms Tuesday.
The Democrats are gonna get a well earned ass kicking and a new bunch of Republican Fart Blossoms can come in a keep the seats warm while the economy sinks like the Titanic.
But hey, there's a shitload of political pundits out there to read and I'm just not up to it right now.
But I did see something friggin' hilarious at David Codrea's War on Guns site today.
Read this court document that was Submitted to the Ninth Circuit Court on behalf of Mr Hupp.
Here's just a tiny bit to tease you -
"Plaintiff has news for these slime ball, piece of shit, ass clownjudges (Bowie, Canby,
6 Thomas and Fletcher-this means you) that think they are going to rig the system and railroad the
7 poor and innocent- such as blocking the discovery process so the poor cannot defend themselves,
8 commit perjury in their orders and a host of other constitutional violations, and do it with
9 impunity that is simply not going to happen in this case. You cock suckers are now on notice."
It gets better.
I'm thinking that might not be the best way to start a relationship with judges.............. But hey, what do I know?
Weasel Zippers has a post just guaranteed to piss off NPR and the like -
“Massive inbreeding within the Muslim culture during the last 1,400 years may have done catastrophic damage to their gene pool.”
Nope. Don't see that making to many friends with the, Religion of Pieces folks.
Not that I give a shit.
If you're a WWII geek like me, here's some interesting WWII info via My Way News
"Britain's National Archives on Friday made public a previously classified account of Hitler provided by a 19-year-old Austrian deserter, who described the dictator as paranoid about being watched by others and short-tempered during meetings.
"He is mild on personal contact but apt to bang tables and shout during conferences," according to the account given by a prisoner of war identified as SS Schuetze Obernigg. He was said to have been at Hitler's retreat in Obersalzberg in the Bavarian Alps between 1943 and 1944."
Here's a link to the British National Archives where you can download the full PDF file.
You're welcome.
Gratuitous Picture for a Friday Night-
SF Garbage Rail Transport Proposal Claims To Exceed Fuel, Emission Standards
0 comments Posted by ai at 11:26 AMA proposal before the San Francisco Board of Supervisors claims that, if it's adopted, will result in a large savings for rate payers and exceed President Obama's new fuel and emission standards.
The proposal, by Recology, the firm once known as NorCal Waste Systems, and selected to be the City and County of San Francisco's new trash collector and hauler (currently its Waste Management) was introduced at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors earlier this month and is expected to be heard in committee after the election and voted on by the full board before the end of the year.
Recology holds the rail proposal will save rate payers more than $125 million over 10 years compared to the next lowest bid. At present, San Francisco sends about 400,000 tons of garbage to landfill a year. Recology’s bid, based on current disposal rates, came in 44 percent lower than next bid.
The New York Times reports that President Obama's mileage proposal is scheduled to become final next year after a period of public comment.
For more information, visit the website at www.OstromRoad.com.
According to the video maker, YouTubeer gtothebomb, this is what happened:
This was taken at the McDonald's right next to AT&T park. Some chick was arguing about their order, the chick with the yellow thong tells her, she shouldn't talk like that in front of her daughter. Chick says she's not my daughter and throws soda at the yellow thong chick. then all hell breaks loose.
No kidding. The fighting was done by women, with the exception of one large Latino man and mosly white, Hispanic, and a few African American women. Why the black women got involved in the fight is not clear, but one of them to jump into it throwing punches, then was helped by her friends as they hit another woman to the ground, then they backed off.
Not too long after that, a blonde haired woman threw what seemed to be a chair at the woman in yellow. Then, the rather heavy-set Latino man got involved again and punched someone else. Shortly after that, and next to him, two other women started fighting each other.
Wild.
Then the camera, and we, are taken out of the McDonald's as you hear sirens in the background - the SFPD is on the way.
It's sad that people can't just enjoy the first World Series game played since 2002, but overall this blogger has noticed a "mean climate" around the baseball events. But it also depends on where you go. None of the bars I went to had this problem - Momo's, Paragon, Tres Agave, and 21st Amendment were all great places to be.
Now, hopefully someone doesn't come along and pop my bubble.
Stay tuned.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Jan Tomasz Gross
Pierogi.
I received an email asking me what I think of Jan Tomasz Gross.
Gross is, of course, the author of "Neighbors," about the massacre in of Jews by Poles in Jedwabne, German-occupied Poland, in 1941, and "Fear," about the pogrom in Kielce, Poland, in 1946. "Neighbors" and "Fear" received a huge amount of attention in the American press and on college campuses. These did what Gross did not: they used the tragedies to label all Poles as bestial monsters unlike anyone else on planet earth. I cover this ground thoroughly in my book "Bieganski."
I've never met Prof. Gross, and I'm not privy to any intimate details about him. Everything I know about him I know from the public record, available to anyone.
First, Gross was born a Pole.
And I must pause to comment.
People like to compliment me, or, alternately, to insult me, by referring to me as a Pole. Some of those same people would never refer to Jan Tomasz Gross as a Pole.
Funny, isn't it?
I was born in the US of a Slovak-born mother. In many ways I am a typical American. I listen to Bruce Springsteen and drink coca-cola and wear jeans. Thanksgiving, not Wigilia, was the biggest holiday in my childhood home. I had to study Polish as a foreign language, and I speak it poorly, not at all as well as I speak French or other foreign languages I've spoken. And, as for the "Catholic" part of "Polish Catholic" – don't get me started. Look at any opinion poll of how American Catholics feel about the church sex abuse crisis, women priests, teachings on homosexuality, and church attendance, and you will find me.
To the identity politicians, though, I am, for better or for worse (never is this information neutral), a Pole.
Though Jan Tomasz Gross was born in Warsaw, and speaks Polish as a first language, many identity politicians, again, for better or for worse, insist on identifying Gross as a "Jew," and not as a Pole.
Those identity politicians who love Jews and hate Poles compliment Gross by labeling him a Jew. Only a Jew, they insist, is smart enough to write reliably about Polish-Jewish relations. Only a Jew, they insist, is ethical enough. Only a Jew is compassionate enough to care about the victims of Jedwabne or Kielce. Only a Jew could educate Poles about how bestial they are.
This is all pretty absurd, given Gross' Polish identity. But stuff like this was published in mainstream American newspapers; stuff like this was clung to by the anti-Polonists in the Ivory Tower. Gross is good because Gross is a Jew, not a Pole.
On the other side of the identity politics divide you have those who wish to insult Gross by calling him a Jew. Only a Jew, they insist, would attempt to cash in on Poland's darkest hour by selling books about those tragic days. Only a Jew, they insist, would wreak this vengeance on Poland. Only a Jew would be so crafty as to try to pull the wool over the reader's eyes as Gross does.
All this identity politics is trash. The ethical, aware person will reject it.
In any case, those who wish to insult or compliment Gross by labeling him a Jew or a Pole can't get around the fact that he was born in Warsaw to a Polish mother and a Polish-Jewish father. Gross' father, like Pilsudski, was a member of the PPS. Gross' mother was a member of the Home Army, the AK, the underground, anti-Nazi resistance movement. Gross' mother risked her life by defying Nazi edicts and aided his father in surviving the war. Can we please just all agree that Jan Tomasz Gross is as Polish as pierogi?
Gross participated in rebelling against the Soviet-supported, Communist regime in Poland in 1968. Gross was jailed by that regime for five months. I admire a man who serves time as part of an effort to make Poland free. I wonder how many of Gross' detractors have served time as he has.
In exile in America, where focus on Poland would not have earned him many points, Gross published a well-received book frequently cited by Poles who want to communicate how horrific Soviet crimes in Poland were: "Revolution from Abroad: The Soviet Conquest of Poland's Western Ukraine and Western Belorussia." This was no quickie, fly-by-night book. Gross' research involved twenty thousand documents.
Here's what Library Journal, April 15, 1988, says about "Revolution":
"A well-written and carefully documented study. Gross examines surviving depositions and surveys collected by Polish authorities in the wake of the Soviet occupation of the western Ukraine and western Belorussia, 1939-41. Through the miseries of the common people he presents, Gross reveals the means by which the Soviets assumed power. The topics analyzed are dictated by the documents: conquest, elections, socialization, prisons, and deportations. The themes which emerge are twofold: the substitution of the rule of law for that of individuals and the destructive power of totalitarianism through wasted human talent. Highly recommended."
Here's a snip from Prof. Anna M. Cienciala's review in "The American Historical Review":
"The first scholarly account and analysis, in English, of the Communist revolution in Soviet-occupied eastern Poland." Cienciala points about that Gross shows that the Soviets killed more people during this time period than Germans killed in German-occupied Poland. Cienciala concludes by calling the book "detailed and fascinating." "His book should be read by all students of Soviety history, sociology, and government."
Excerpts from a laudatory New York Times review by Thomas Swick, published on June 12, 1988:
"Controlling over 50 percent of Poland's territory, the Soviet Union deported approximately half a million civilians between 1939 and 1941. It also established a policy of spoliation - of land, property, cities, lives - that was so complete it caused the Poles to assume the foreign presence was only temporary. For if the Russians meant to stay, they reasoned, why would they be destroying everything? Through extensive research - including the discovery of handwritten accounts by ordinary people who experienced the occupation - Jan T. Gross has given us an invaluable portrait of that time…There is no chapter without its horrors … The exhuming of so much valuable information would be enough to recommend this book, but Mr. Gross adds to his gripping account a masterly analysis of the nature and workings of the totalitarian state."
In short, Jan Tomasz Gross, in rebelling against the Soviet-supported Communist regime in Poland, in serving time, and in devoting himself, in exile, to writing books that introduce the English-speaking world to Poland's crucifixion under the Soviets, fully deserved the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland which was bestowed on him.
After Gross published "Neighbors" and "Fear," many attacked Gross. To me, this looks like "kill the messenger" syndrome. The message upset many: Poles committed atrocities. Many Poles confronted this troubling news head-on. I quote two such Poles in "Bieganski." Here's one: Agnieszka Magdziak-Miszewska, Polish journalist and diplomat. "Neighbors is a book which had to be written … If I want to have a moral right to justified pride in [Polish] rescuers, then I must admit to a sense of shame over [Polish] killers."
To me, it's that simple. People who share my ethnic background have done bad things. People who share my ethnic background have done good things. If I want to be proud of the heroes, I must also come to terms with the killers.
I can't emphasize enough: I'm talking here about Gross' books, not about press response to them. I address the press response in "Bieganski."
Gross' critics tend to advance the following complaints:
* Gross is a sociologist, not an historian, so his history can't be trusted.
Gross was a sociologist when he wrote "Revolution from Abroad." Did anyone mount that protest against that book?
And can anyone give a reason why Gross' training as a sociologist renders "Neighbors" or "Fear" flawed?
* Gross wrote these books for financial gain.
Academics don't make a lot of money from books. Gross had no way of knowing that these books would become front page news. There is a flood of Holocaust material out there; some very good books get very little attention. This comment is a baseless attempt to impugn Gross' honor; as such, it merely reflects badly on the speaker.
* Gross shows outrage when writing of massacres of Jews.
I find this argument particularly hard to read. Gross' outrage is entirely appropriate. Anyone who isn't outraged by what transpired in Jedwabne and Kielce is incapable of the kind of humanity necessary to produce worthy history.
* Gross was wrong in this or that particular.
Yes, Gross got some details wrong. It is to be hoped that any follow-up printings of "Neighbors" correct errors.
* Gross attributes actions to Poles when German Nazis or Russian Soviets were really the guilty parties.
The massacre at Jedwabne occurred under German Nazi occupation. The pogrom in Kielce occurred under Russian Soviet occupation. Many argue that Germans and Russians are guilty, not Poles. While it is important never to forget the occupying powers and their impact, testimonies, including from Poles, locate agency in Poles.
***
FWIW, my Amazon review of "Fear" can be read here.
***
I admire Jan Tomasz Gross. I admire the courage to speak unpopular truths. I admire the courage to go on when one is insulted for speaking unpopular truths.
Budaya Jawa Tengah - Mengenal kebudayaan Jawa Tengah boleh dikatakan mengetahui segala hal yang berkaitan dengan seni dan budaya yang ada di seluruh wilayang yang terdapat di Jawa Tengah.
Apa saja yang termasuk dalam seni budaya jawa tengah? Banyak banget ! Sama seperti daerah lain yang terdapat di Indonesia, Adat juga merupakan salah satu kebudayaan yang ada di Jawa Tengah, misalnya saja tentang upacara pernikahan dimana sang calon pengantin akan menjalani proses "Pingitan". Lalu ada upacar siraman dan masih banyak lagi.
Bidang lain yang berkaitan dengan Budaya di Jawa Tengah adalah seni. Kesenian yang termasuk dalam budaya jawa tengah ini meliputi seni tari, gamelan, macapat, ketoprak, wayang kulit.
Ada satu lagi hasil budaya jawa tengah yang sudah terkenal hingga manca negara yaitu produk Kain Batik. Hampir setiap daerah di jawa tengah mempunyai corak batik tulis yang berbeda serta memiliki ciri khas masing-masing. Beberapa daerah penghasil Batik yang sangat terkenal adalah Solo dab Pekalongan.
Wayang kulit juga merupakan salah satu kebudayaan Jawa Tengah yang sudah dia akui oleh dunia. Unesco telah mengakui bahwa Wayang Kulit adalah sebagai warisan budaya dunia. Anda punya info lain tentang seni dan budaya di Jawa Tengah? Tulis saja komentar Anda!
Gunung Merapi masih berbahaya ! Sejak Merapi meletus 26 oktober 2010, ternyata gunung yang paling berbahaya di Indonesia ini masih mengeluarkan awan panas.
Surono, yang menjabat sebagai Kepala Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana, menghimabau kepada warga untuk tetap mejauhi puncak gunung Merapi, minimal 10 Kilometer untuk batas aman. SElain itu warga yang selamat dan masih tinggal di dalam pengungsian agar tetap bersabar. Warga juga di himbau agar jangan dulu kembali ke rumahnya masing-masing, karena kondisi Gunung Merapi yang masih berbahaya. Hingga saat ini "Gunung Merapi masih di tetapkan dalam status awas, untuk itu hindari segala kegiatan dalam jarak sepuluh kilometer, dan kegiatan di alur sungai," katanya.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Since my first video post of a wingsuit remains one of my top trafficked blog articles, I know you guys are diggin' it and tapping into your inner flying squirrel. Here's another great one, complete with crazy dance soundtrack.
Be sure get the last 10 seconds, where he does a fly by...these guys are really moving!
Jeb Corliss wing-suit demo from Jeb Corliss on Vimeo.
Wednesday Narcotic Laced Post............
Mr Vicoprofen, my new best friend, informs me I should post something today. So here goes.
From Op-Toons comes this interesting news report-
"Obama Holds Huge Rallies at Unemployment Offices Around the Country"
"Thank you all for coming," said Obama to a capacity crowd who streamed in lines between the cubicles of unemployment officers. "It's a testament to your faith in Democratic economic policies that you've all come here today to hear my message, and to collect your checks."
There's a great picture too.
Via Right Wing News-
"Add Tattoo Artists To The List Of People You Don’t Want Angry At You"
"A 21-YEAR-OLD man has been charged by police in Ipswich for allegedly tattooing a penis on a man's back - instead of the image he had requested."
Well, that certainly makes sense. No damn picture though.
Stormbringer has 2 great "Compare and Contrast" posts today. They are photo based so you'll just have to go see 'em as I just can't swipe 'em.
#1. Desk Issues
#2 The Difference between the USA and a Muslim Country explained
Yep, if a picture is worth a thousand words................... Just go see.
OK, I'm gonna go back to my stupor now.
Gratuitous Picture for a Wednesday Afternoon-
Today is the first game of the 2010 World Series and I hope you're as excited as this blogger is. To you Texans from the DFW Metroplex, welcome to the San Francisco Bay Area. (For those of you who don't know, "DFW Metroplex" refers to the metropolitan area that includes the two large cities of Dallas and FTWorth Texas, with Arlington in the middle, all served by DFW Airport.)
Here's some tips for you visiting Texans. (And a special welcome to anyone who attended the University of Texas At Arlington, where my undergrad degree was earned before going to Cal Berkeley for my Master's Degree In City Planning.)
Now, this: the San Francisco Giants are going to kick The Texas Rangers ass. Cliff Lee doesn't stand a chance against two-time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum. Still, it's a dream match-up. Here's my tips for enjoying your stay.
First, don't rent a car. I don't mean to take money out of their pockets, but you don't need a car to get around San Francisco. Take a cab. Use Yellow Cab. DO NOT USE the white LUXOR CAB - their service is awful. Yellow Cab's the best in San Francisco. Period. Also, use a limo and transportation service. I recommend San Francisco's Bauer's Transportation at 1-800-LIMO-OUT.
Second, there are a lot of restaurants in San Francisco and everyone has their favorites. Next to AT&T Park is Momo's Restaurant on the corner of Second and King Street - you can't miss it. The pastas and steaks are good as are the cocktails, but get there five hours before the game - it's going to get packed. Plus, forget reservations. Too late for that.
There's also 24 Restaurant, also right at the Ballpark. If you can't get in to Momo's, go here.
My favorites are also The Balboa Cafe on Fillmore and Union in the Marina District, where Brian's a Giant's expert of the first tier and should be working tonight. The Brick Yard's on Union Street next to Union and Octavia. Downtown is The Royal Exchange on Sacramento and Front Street - the best and classic San Francisco sports bar.
Around the corner of Front Street on California Street is San Francisco's oldest restaurant, Tadich Grill. And next to it, are the twin restaurants Barbaco and Prebaco with excellent food and wine. As I stated, everyone has their faves, but I like those.
Then come to Oakland, and eat at The Lake Chalet on the waters of Lake Merritt - a cool setting for a meal after the game. If anyone tells you anything bad about Oakland, laugh at them.
At The World Series, Behave
Finally, please be nice to everyone. And male SF Giants fans, please do not throw beer bottles at people and be nice to everyone. Don't get drunk and stupid.
GO GIANTS!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Berita terbaru tentang Tsunami Mentawai - Indonesia kembali di Landa bencana Tsunami. Kali ini lokasi Tsunami terjadi di Mentawai, yaitu pada senin 25 oktober 2010. Mentawai yang ada di provinsi Sumatera barat tersebut di timpa bencana gempa dengan skala 7.2 SR.
Dan pada selasa 26/10/2010 Badan Geofisika dan Klimatologi atau BMKG telah mencatat mencatat gempa 5,4 SR terjadi di kawasan itu. Lokasi gempa berjarak 42 km arah selatan Sipura Mentawai, Sumatra barat, dengan kedalaman kira-kira 13 km.
Sebelumnya, sekitar pukul 17.51 WIB, juga terjadi gempa dengan 5,6 SR yang terjadi di 96 km barat daya Pagai Selatan, Mentawai. Kedalaman gempa di perkirakan kurang lebih sekitar 10 km. Kejadian Grmpa tersebut telah membuat panik warga di pengungsian.
Peristiwa Gempa di Mentawai ini telah menjadi topik utama di twitter. Kebanyakan para pengguna twitter menyampaikan rasa duka atas terjadinya musibah dan bencana yangv terjadi di Mentawai ini.
Akibat dari gempa tersebut telah banyak memakan korban. Di perkirakan hingga saat ini korban gempa Tsunami di Mentawai telah mencapai kurang lebih 31 orang tewas dan 105 lainnya dinyatakan hilang.
Wisata Lombok merupakan salah satu wisata terbaik yang ada di Indonesia. Pesona Obyek wisata yang ada di Lombok mampu menarik wisatawan lokal atau manca negara.
Trntu saja banyak sekali pilihan tempat wisata yang sangat menarik dan bisa untuk di kunjungi oleh wisatawan yang akan traveling ke Lombok. Berikut ini merupakan tempat obyek wisata yang paling di minati oleh wisatawan yang ada di Lombok :
Di bawah ini beberapa daerah yang layak dikunjungi saat anda berlibur ke Lombok:
# Wisata Suranadi : di sini Anda bisa melihat candi atau pura hindu. Tempat lokasinya hanya 17 km dari Mataram. Tersedia hotel dengan fasilitas kolam renang cocok untuk tempat liburan sekeluarga.
# Wisata Narmada. Tempat ini adalah sebuah Kebun Raya di Lombok, di sini juga ada Pura yang biasa di jadikan tempat untuk beribadah umat agama Hindu.
# Pantai Senggigi. Ini adalah Pantai terbaik yang ada di Lombok. Jadi jika Anda suka alam Pantai, jangan lupa untuk mengunjungi Pantai Senggigi. Dengan pantai berpasir putih Senggigi merupakan pantai favorite untuk wisatawan asing atau lokal. Anda bisa menyaksikan Sunset atau Sunrise di Pantai Senggigi. Fasilitas juga komplit untuk mendukung dunia pariwisata di Lombok.
# Pantai Sire - Salah satu tempat terbaik untuk diving atau menyelam yang ada di Lombok. Tempatnya sangat eksotik dan indah.
# Pantai Kuta atau Tanjung Aan. Tidak hanya di Bali yang ada pantai Kuta. Di LOmbok juga ada nama pantai Kuta. Mungkin tidak seterkenal pantai Kuta Bali. Tapi panoramanya juga indah dan menjadi salah satu wisata andalan yang ada di Lombok.
# Wisata Air Terjun Sendanggile - Lokasinya ada di Desa Senaru, Kecamatan Bayan.
# Taman National Gunung Rinjani - Buat Anda yang suka mendaki Gunung, tentu tidak asing dengan obyek wisata taman nasional gunung Rinjani. Gunung ini merupakan gunung favorit untuk pecinta alam. Para pendaki gunung di Indonesia sering menjadikan gunung Rinjani sebagai salah satu tujuan untuk mendaki, hal ini karena keindahan pemandangannya. Gunung Rinjanii merupakan bagian dari Taman Nasional Gunung Rinjani.
Info dan berita Gunung Merapi Meletus - Pada hari Selasa 26 Oktober 2010 sekitar pukul 17.02 menitan Gungung Merapi yang berada di provinsi antara Jawa tengah dan Yogyakarta telah meletus. Gunung Merapi yang meletus telah mengeluarkan awan panas.
Peristiwa meletusnya Gunung Merapi terjadi sejak jam 5 sore lebih 02 menit WIB hingga sekitar pukul 17. 34 WIB. Selama rentang waktu tersebut telah terjadi empat kali awan panas dan sampai sekarang awan panas tersebut terus muncul dan tidak berhenti, DEmikian kata Kepala Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi Badan Geologi Bapak Surono di Yogyakarta.
Ada Beberapa daerah di Merapi yang rawan dengan bencana (Kawasan Rawan Bencana atau KRB) III, Daerah tyersebut adalah Kecamatan Cangkringan, daerah Pakem dan Turi di Kabupaten Sleman, Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta," DEmikian kata petugas tim penolong dari Korem 072/Pamungkas Letkol Beni Nugroho di Posko Utama Penanggulangan Bencana Alam Gunung Merapi di Pakem, Kabupaten Sleman, Selasa (26/10).
Sebelum terjadinya letusan, Kawasan Gunung Merapi sudah dinyatakan sebagai daerah yang "berstatus Awas" sejak hari Senin kemarin.
Mark Steyn Nails It............
Saw this over at Western Rifle Shooters this morning-
CAMPAIGN COUNTDOWN: IT STARTS WITH THE MONEY
It's not a long essay, but just giving you an excerpt won't suffice. You really do need to read the whole thing. Steyn is a friggin' genius at getting right down to the nub of things and making it interesting in the process.
So go read it.
Gratuitous Picture for a Tuesday Morning-
Tom Joad says, Hi!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Was Gonna Go.............
Buy some tools at Sears. Maybe not now.
Pretty catchy advertising really. Seasonal and all that. Beats the hell out of having the damn Christmas displays up already like most places do.
Speaking of Christmas, Say Uncle links to a Tactical Christmas Stocking! Just the thing for the Mall Ninja in your life.
OK. Time for a nap. Pain medicine is getting the best of me.
Freedom of speech is the best friend American Muslims have. CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, may feel that it won a victory in NPR's October 20, 2010 firing of Civil Rights author Juan Williams. Williams was fired because, as part of an attempt to have a productive conversation about a best possible response to terrorism, he publicly confessed that he feels "nervous" when he sees passengers in "Muslim garb" on airplanes. CAIR's victory was pyrrhic. This vanquishing of an identified enemy of Islam did American Muslims more harm than good.
Americans who have grown up with freedom of speech, and who have never had to fight for it, take it for granted. Even when invited to do so, my American students can't imagine living under a system that monitors what you say, what you don't say, what films you view, what pictures you hang on the wall of your business or your home. They really can't imagine living in a country where paid informants monitor your private convictions and the faith you mention to a personal friend.
For me the question is more concrete. In Poland I saw Solidarity graffiti mushroom overnight, and I saw state employees whitewash that revolutionary graffiti within hours of its appearance.
A clean city is a dead city. Source
In Nepal, ruled by a Hindu God-king, I met secret Christians who feared imprisonment if they spoke publicly of their faith. In several countries I have been stopped by friends and loved ones in the middle of sentences and warned not to speak the next word I was about to pronounce.
Once you've lived without free speech, you realize how very revolutionary those dead white males who authored the US Constitution really were. Once you've lived without free speech, you think harder about it. Once you've lived without free speech, you question: Do I really want free speech? Free speech causes trouble: hurt feelings, social tension, quarrels, division, and, yes, death.
The surprise is that many people don't want free speech, and, in fact, have no use for it. They are not forming original observations; they feel no prod to confess complicated internal struggles; they're not inventing some product or process no one's ever thought of before. Free speech opens Pandora's Box. Better to leave all that mess in the deep, locked, dark. Better just go with the flow. Even in 1989, when protestors filled the streets of the Soviet Empire, most citizens stayed indoors, watching their government-run TV stations. Who needs the headaches, the complications, the mess, of free speech? Life is so much smoother when you have one benevolent Big Brother taking care of all the thinking for everybody.
In September, 2010, I posted a message on my Facebook page in support of Molly Norris. Norris was – note the past tense – a young Seattle cartoonist who innocently proposed a tongue-in-cheek holiday called "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day." Norris never actually drew Mohammed. She just proposed this holiday in an "I-am-Spartacus" gesture. She was responding to controversy over "South Park"'s ribbing of Mohammed, and the subsequent death threats that animated series' creators received. Her reasoning was that if everyone drew a picture of Mohammed, it would be harder for terrorists to single out one cartoonist and threaten that person. Norris, a previously obscure cartoonist, received so many credible death threats that to protect her life she had to "go ghost," as her former employer put it. She erased her life, her public record, her home, and her relationships, and she disappeared.
I posted a message about Norris on Facebook. I immediately received two messages, both from posters who self-identify as multicultural, sexually liberated, peace-and-love, hot-tub-and-massage liberals. One message was rageful, the other was diabolical in its quiet. Both said the same thing, paraphrase: "To hell with Molly Norris. Norris, with her big mouth, stirred up trouble. If she'd just kept quiet and not needled the Muslims, we wouldn't have this mess. Molly Norris got exactly what she deserved."
Other people had already marched through the muck, the terror, the flak and the inconvenience, to make these two Facebook posters free. Like pizza delivery boys, soldiers and activists had already delivered to these Facebook posters their lifetime supply of free speech. These posters had been born into what they wanted: enough freedom to enjoy unconventional sex lives and backyard barbecues and online games and a superior contempt for Western Civilization and the Judeo-Christian tradition. Just like those Soviet citizens who never did join us in the streets in 1989, these two were happy to consume un-free, standard-issue speech that never upset anyone who might cause a fuss, whose fuss might disrupt the barbecue, the hot tub, the predictable conversation and its predictable sneers at Tea Party activists and others you can insult who won't hurt you in return.
After Juan Williams was fired, a leftist friend, a white woman who has given her life to international black liberation struggles, posted a message criticizing Juan Williams. I shuddered. How could this woman so rapidly denounce Williams, a black man who chronicled the Civil Rights movement? This is how Stalinism works. What really matters is not the loyalty a true believer owes to any one person. What really matters is ideological purity. NPR and its ideologically pure followers dispatched Williams with the ruthless speed and cruelty of the ice axe that penetrated Leon Trotsky's transgressive brain.
Leftist ideologues play with ethnic minorities the way Bobby Fischer played with chess pieces. According to African American author Shelby Steele, white liberals demand that blacks play an assigned role. Blacks must certify white liberals' worth. Blacks perform this service for white liberals when they reinforce the image of most Americans as so racist that blacks can never do anything to improve their own status. It is only white liberals, in this scenario, who will associate with, and uplift, the black man.
Juan Williams challenged this liberal gospel simply by appearing on Fox News. In these appearances, Williams made clear that conservative Americans are not the racist boogiemen that white liberals insist they are. Williams, just by having a respectful exchange with Bill O'Reilly, withdrew his certification for white liberals' worth. It almost didn't matter what Williams said. Williams refused to be a token. Williams, with his free speech, in the tradition of public confession, exhibited human individuality. For its firing of Williams, some black commentators have labeled NPR a "plantation" that punished Williams for being "uppity."
In his book, "White Guilt," Shelby Steele described his own reaction when he encounters white liberals who cannot see him as an individual, but see him, rather, only as a token black man whose struggle and gratitude certifies white liberals' worth. In the presence of such white liberals, Steele reports feeling "a palpable anger, potentially more intense even than any I felt back in the sixties when confronted by open racists. It is a sharp, bristling, and ego-fueled anger that, on the level of metaphor, would annihilate the offending party. It is triggered by encountering someone who cannot see you, even as he stands before you, because of all the presumptions he has made about you."
Muslims Trump Blacks. Why?
In NPR's chess game, Muslims trump blacks. Why? One possible explanation: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Islam poses an existential threat to Western Civilization in a way that African Americans, themselves participants in and products of Western Civilization, never could. Witness Martin Luther King, who created revolution not by uprooting and discarding the West, but by calling it back to its best self, from the words of the God of the Book of Exodus: "Let my people go!" to the strategy of Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience. In this ethnic chess game, a black man, a Civil Rights author like Juan Williams, must stand aside as NPR kowtows to CAIR.
Williams' public confession of his fear of Muslims on airplanes reminds us: freedom of speech has an invisible, silent twin: freedom of conscience. You get to think what you want. You get to feel what you want. You get to decide what you want, including the god of your own choice. Because you have all these freedoms, you have a responsibility: to examine your own conscience, and publicly confess your misgivings and mental processes. Again, freedom of conscience is so much a part of the Western tradition that it's hard for many of us to imagine living in a world without it. Imagine it. Such worlds exist. Just ask men like Brian O'Connor, who was imprisoned and tortured in Saudi Arabia for the crime of owning a Bible.
Choice is central to the Judeo-Christian tradition. It's there in Genesis, the oldest story many of us know. God gave Adam and Eve a garden, a tree, and a choice. In Deuteronomy, God said: I have placed before you life and death. Choose life. Jesus continued the radical theme of a deity who grants his creations free choice in order that they have the option of choosing him. If you preach about me in the town and they aren't open to the message, Jesus said, leave the town. Don't torch the town. Don't mount a military assault against the town. Don't boycott or tax or even curse its inhabitants. Just – move on.
No one can argue that Jews and Christians have always lived up to the message of freedom of conscience; we have not – but no one can deny that freedom of conscience, granted by a loving God who wants us to use our own free will to choose him, is central to the tradition, the North Star that we, in spite of our having gotten lost at times, have strived to navigate by, to guide us home to the free will that God granted to Adam and Eve.
A key cultural feature of freedom of conscience and its handmaiden, free speech, is the Judeo-Christian tradition of ritualized confession – the very kind of confession that Williams made that lead to his firing. Jews and Christians are remarkable for their repeated and ritualized examination of conscience, and public articulation, in narrative form, of where they went wrong and how they hope to do right in the future. This ritual is so central and so revolutionary that cultural observers have cited it as foundational to Western products like the novel, individuality, psychoanalysis, and the very idea of progress, of a future that can be better than the past.
In Islam, on the other hand, apostasy – leaving Islam – is a capital offense. Freedom of speech cannot even be a consideration as long as this tradition is enforced: that whoever insults Mohammed should be killed. Public confession is not emphasized. Consider that Turkey, a model, modern, Muslim state, uses all its might to resist owning up to its genocide of Christian Armenians. Given this hostility to freedom of conscience and freedom of speech, CAIR might indeed celebrate NPR's firing of Juan Williams.
Even though it causes a lot of trouble, even though many of those blessed with it have no use for it, even though one must fight to keep it, freedom of speech is the best option we have. In fact, freedom of speech is the best friend Muslims living in the West have.
Life requires movement. Stasis, standing still, is a quality of lifeless objects. A free mind and free speech are the best way to move around new ideas. Imprisoning the mind and suppressing speech guarantees a build up of inarticulate hostilities. When liberals erect a Politically Correct Iron Curtain around speech and thought about Islam, they make the world a less safe place for Muslims. When liberals like NPR CEO Vivian Schiller, who said that Juan Williams should mention his fears of Muslims on airplanes only to his psychiatrist, demonize or pathologize free speech about Islam, they guarantee that resentments against Muslims will build up, and eventually explode.
The most frequent compliment writers hear is, "Thank you so much; you said exactly what I have been thinking, but what I could not put into words." A society's wordsmiths – lucky individuals exactly like Juan Williams – must put into words what others are thinking. When wordsmiths do this, they do no less of a service than construction workers in building our physical infrastructure. As Winston Churchill said, "Jaw jaw is better than war war." Juan Williams was contributing to bringing America closer to having a conversation about Islam, a frank conversation it desperately needs. Juan Williams said what everybody, including liberals, including Schiller herself, almost certainly has felt.
What happens in the absence of words? On September 11, 2001, I was walking across the parking lot of the university library in Bloomington, Indiana. I saw a pickup truck with a sign in the rear window. The crude, handmade sign promised that the truck driver's plan for the day was to do physical harm to any passing Muslims he encountered. I approached the man in the truck. The young, muscular man had a shaved head and was wearing heavy boots. I began to talk. The man responded. We talked at length. He was convinced that his comrades, men in uniform, had been killed in terrorist attacks. He wanted revenge. He wanted to hurt Muslims. He looked physically strong and intimidating enough to do someone harm. He began to cry.
I didn't tell this man to keep his "Islamophobic" thoughts between himself and his psychiatrist. I didn't demonize him, pathologize him, or tell him to take a course in multicultural relations. I didn't phone his boss and demand that he be fired. I listened and I nodded and I talked, too. I talked about my own Muslim friends, neighbors, and students who were lights in my life. People who were kind to me, hospitable to me, loving to me. People who would no more harm me than I them. I acknowledged the pain this man felt. I didn't take away his pain. All I did was talk: move ideas around with words, rather than with fists. Ideas do move in response to words, if you let them. But you have to have a free environment, where people are allowed to say what they feel. The man in the pickup truck didn't beat up any Muslims that day. He could have. He did not. He did talk. And he did cry.
I've also been in environments where people do not feel free to say what they feel – to confess their fears and move ideas around with words. In the recent past, I lead a discussion on a university campus. We were talking about America's multicultural population and how the coming together of various cultures would have an impact on education in the future. When it came to Islam, many participants froze up, and remained completely silent. They had been well-trained. In an age when a powerful public figure like Juan Williams can lose his job over taboo speech about Islam, average people feel all the more intimidated. If they said what they really thought about Islam, they risked punishment. In America, on a university campus, I saw the kind of rigid and fearful facial expressions I saw in the old Soviet Empire. In the face of this silence, this absence of movement, this apparent death, one might think that CAIR had won. One would be wrong.
One of the group participants was a lovely young woman, a future teacher, and herself a member of a minority group. Before she left the meeting, she handed me a written note. My jaw dropped as I read. This very gentle, polite woman, who breathed not a single taboo word, wrote that she despised Muslims and their culture, and that she knew she'd never change her mind about that. Perhaps if I had gotten her to speak, we could have moved her ideas around. But she would not speak. She knew the barriers, and the penalties, too well. She was frozen in hate.
Islam's apologists keep insisting that Islam is a sophisticated, non-violent system, profound and powerful enough to withstand any intellectual criticism. And then they prove that they don't really believe that, by, in this country, clamping down speech codes on any criticism of Islam, insulating Islam in a way that Christianity and Judaism, not to mention Hinduism and Buddhism, are not insulated. In Muslim countries, those who criticize Islam face dreadful fates. In this, Islam's apologists reveal that whatever Islam's true nature, they themselves do not believe that Islam can withstand the same intellectual critique that Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism have endured, and, often, enthusiastically invited, for thousands of years. Both Muslims and those of us who love Muslims and don't want to see any more violence should not celebrate Juan Williams' firing. Muslims should call for Williams to be rehired. And then Muslims should roll up their sleeves and get ready – not to fight – but to do what other persons of faith have been doing since the founding of their faiths. Muslims should get ready to use words, and, in a no-verbal-holds-barred environment – to debate.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
(My apologies for missing this story in September - pretty amazing!)
Here were Neal's finish times:
Western States 100 - 18:14 (13th)
Vermont 100 - 16:33 (2nd)
Leadville 100 - 18:47 (4th)
Wasatch 100 - 21:19 (2nd)
Pretty amazing. Despite being almost 90 minutes slower than Kulak's time at Vermont, he made up time in the hills. Congrats, Neal!
- SD
By Request.............
I got an inquiry via email asking, "Just what kind of surgery did you have anyway?"
So after an exhausting search of about 20 seconds at Google for, Radical Fasciotomy here's pretty much it-
This picture is from the link above and is NOT my foot.
Given where the problem on my foot was, I'm guessing that's pretty similar to what my foot looked like the other day though.
Yeah, they slice the hell out of ya and then cut all the funky shit out.
Sorta explains why I'm getting real, Buddy Buddy with Mr Vicoprofen here.
The good news is that once that crap is out of there it'll be no more problem walking.
The bad news is pretty obvious. That shit hurts right now. But hey, it'll get better!
OK, there's yer answer, Dude.
For those of you interested in this sort of thing, here's Another article for ya with a picture of the nasty crap cut out-
Slice & Dice, Baby!
Gratuitous Picture for a Sunday Afternoon-
Kid with a future.
Sunday Afternoon............
Lazy Day. I got nothin'.
My ass is sore from sitting so much since the surgery. Normally, I just don't spend all that that much time sitting, but that's about all I can do right now.
So that's what I gotta do till things get better.
Fortunately, Mr Vicoprofen is here with me to keep me company. But mixing crutches, no depth perception and narcotics has led to me falling on my ass once already.
Who would have thought that just getting up to take a leak could be so exciting?
Seriously, I'm goofy enough without Narcs. I'll be glad when I don't need them in a few days or whatever.
Carry on, Kids.
Gratuitous Picture for a Sunday Afternoon-
Joe, What the hell are you doing there?
Ternyata banyak juga blogger Indonesia yang dapat Voucher senilai 400 ribu. Sudahkah Anda mendapat Voucher untuk iklan senilai Rp 400 000?
Dalam surat tersebut di jelaskan bahwa orang yang dapat voucher google adwords bisa beriklan gratis senilai 400 ribu. Hasil iklan akan tampil di search engine google sesuai keyword yang kita pilih. Jika tiap harga klik untuk google adword bernilai 1000 per klik berarti kita berpeluang memperoleh trafik kunjungan cuma2 400 kali.
Google adwords tidak mensyaratkan apapun, maksudnya jika batas maksimal yang di berikan sudah tercapai kita boleh tidak memperpanjang atau bisa menghentikannya namun jika iklan yang kita pasang ingin terus di tampilkan maka kita akan di kenakan biaya sesuai yang sudah di tentukan oleh google adwords.
Cuma sayangnya maaf, karena saya tidak bisa menampilkan scren dari gambar surat google adwords. Dan saya juga bingung, mau di manfaatkan ga ya Voucher google adwords tersebut. Buat temen2 yang dapat voucher google Adwords selamat juga ya...!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
“Mental tenacity — and the ability to manage and even thrive on and push through pain — is a key segregator between the mortals and immortals in running,” Ms. [Mary] Wittenberg said.
In that case, every 100-miler I know is immortal! ;-)
Here's another good quote:
“We have towels at marathon finish to wipe away the spit on the winners’ faces,” she said. “Our creative team sometimes has to airbrush it off race photos that we want to use for ad campaigns.”
Yummy!
- SD
Saturday Morning Link Dump...............
I've got a slew of crap here for ya this morning. Some good. Some bad and some funny.
Let's start with the funny. I have no idea if this is really from a theme paper at college. Doesn't matter. It was funny back when I first saw it and it's still funny now.
Read this one for a good laugh - Chamomile Tea
Drunk people do some silly shit, but seriously, WTF is this shit about?
When I was growing up, every kid wanted a Batmobile. Well, wish no more. Get your wallet out and go buy one.
Chinese History Professor in 30 years-
Airplane crashes are not supposed to be caused by a Friggin' Crocodile
Aircraft crashes after crocodile on board escapes and sparks panic
"A small airliner crashed into a house, killing a British pilot and 19 others after a crocodile smuggled into the aircraft in a sports bag escaped and started a panic."
And lastly, a little financial news from Monty at AoS that's just guaranteed to perk you right up - Financial Briefing: We haven't reached DOOM yet, but you can see it from here
OK. I'm gonna go hit the couch and keep this foot iced and elevated.
Vicoprofen. It's what's for dinner!
Gratuitous Picture for a Saturday Morning-
Friday, October 22, 2010
Surgery Update...........
So far so good. Things went pretty smooth with the procedure itself. The Doc was amazed that I've been walking around with shit that big in the bottom of my foot.
He said something along the lines of, "When I opened your foot up the damn thing winked at me."
Yep, try putting a sharp rock (3 actually) about the size of a marble in your shoe and walk on it all day. That's why that crap had to go.
He did a nerve block on the whole foot that has held up pretty well in keeping the pain down so far, but I can feel it wearing off a bit and expect to be needing those pain pills he prescribed before long.
Keeping things elevated and using this groovy cooling device they sent home with me all day.
I'm gonna drive the wife nuts with having to have her fetch and carry everything for me. I'm already feeling sorry for her. You can't even carry a cup of coffee while hobbling around on crutches. I had forgotten these things.
let's just hope everything heals up quick and I can get back to being my normal annoying self.
All things considered, everything's good.
Gratuitous Picture for a Friday Night-
Early in the morning Jesus arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them.
The high priests of Political Correctness brought Juan Williams, who had been caught in Political Incorrectness, and made him stand in the middle.
And the High Priests of Political Correctness said to Jesus, "Teacher, this man was caught in the very act of committing Political Incorrectness. Now the law commands us to stone this man. And to fire him, as well. What do you say?"
Jesus said to them, "Let the Politically Correct among you who has never felt anxiety when viewing someone in 'Muslim garb' on the same airplane flight with him be the first to throw a stone at Juan Williams."
In response, they went away one by one, because all of them, including the most Politically Correct High Priests, had felt the same anxiety that Juan Williams describing feeling: "When I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."
***
I've faced exactly what Muslims face. I've been told that people like me are dangerous, and wrong, and not to be funded, published, or hired. I've heard this from potential employers and I've heard it from commentators on NPR. I haven't gotten anyone fired over it. I haven't made any attempt to take away anyone's right to free speech.
I wrote "Bieganski" to respond to negative images of Poles and Polish Americans like me. The answer to speech you don't like is not to take away someone else's right to speech, it is, rather, to produce better speech that addresses other's offensive speech.
I've been told, over and over again, by Jewish Americans, that they would never travel to my ancestral homeland, Poland, because they were certain that Poles would kill them. I didn't try to get these Jews fired for expressing such fear. Rather, I studied Polish-Jewish relations and worked to better understand Jews' anxiety. And I wrote a book addressing the issues at hand. No firing. No hate. No threats.
I have faced this bigotry not just casually, in day-to-day life, but in my professional life, as well. I know it's had a negative impact on me. I have been told, many times, that I was the "wrong ethnicity" to be funded in academia, to be published, or to be hired. And, so far, I haven't gotten anyone fired over this.
One day I was waiting to talk to Alan Dundes, the head of my department at UC Berkeley. He was talking to another student, who asked him about travel to Eastern Europe. Dundes pointed to his nose, and said such travel made him anxious – surely Eastern Europeans would see that he was Jewish and do him harm. I squirmed. On another occasion, when a student did not understand his point in class, he suggested that the student's slowness might be explained by Polish ancestry.
I made no threats. I wrote no protest letters. I recognized Dundes' great stature as a scholar and his value to me as a teacher. I met with Dundes one-on-one, told him how these comments hurt me and other Bohunks like me, and, I think, he came to see and respect my point of view. He was very supportive of my work on stereotypes of Poles, encouraging me to publish.
No threats. Just talk. Two people respecting each other and growing from the experience. Couldn't CAIR have taken that approach with Juan Williams?
As for NPR? Here's a snip from my book "Bieganski" discussing an NPR commentary about Eastern Europeans:
On the NPR program "All Things Considered," Andrei Codrescu reviled the "drunken ditties," alternately, the "nasty ditties," the "morbid fairy tales, and musty chronicles" that constitute the identity of the peoples of Eastern Europe. He condemned their "deep-seated and emotionally unassailable stupidity." He referred to their "stink;" their "muddy ravines" called home, their "smoke-darkened icons."
These are direct quotes from an NPR broadcast. NPR sees fit to describe people like me as stinky, nasty, morbid drunks. I leave the reader to decide the suitability of NPR personnel to preach to others about what constitutes Politically Correct speech.
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